The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1887-10-29
LIFE M THE COUNTRY.

StttuttOJcs
LIFE IN THE COUNTRY.
The Delights of Apple Bees In the Old
New England states.
Social entertainments were rare. Oc-
casionally there was an "apple bee,"
in which, after the work Of pairing,
quartering and coring was finished,
there were usually some games in which
kissing played a prominent part
Judges were appointed, forfoits were
taken, and then the pleasant labor OF
judgment and redemption was entered
on. All the forfeits taken from the boys
were designated as 'fine" and those
captured from the girls as "superfine."
"Fine or superfneP" was asked the
Judge as the forfeit was held up to
the back of his or her head so that it
| could not be seen, as it was not desired
that the ownership Of the article should
| be seen.
Fine"
"Well, he must bow to tho prettiest
girl, kneel to the wittiest and kiss the
one he loves best"
| Or:
"Superfine."
"She must go to Rome" which
meant that the culprit must kiss in
turn every gentleman in the room.
| Immense was the excitement in car
rying out. in many instances, these
judgments. The young fellows ordered
to go to Rome would occasionally en-
countered young, untamed thing that
either did not wish to be kissed by the
particular culprit, or who had coquet-
ish desire to make the labor as exact
ing as possible. She would resist and
then there would be music. The girls
were no fragile creatures with pinched
waists and slender arms. They were
muscular, as active as eats, as slippery
as cells, and as full of endurance as
panthers. 1t was always pretty fight.
She would writhe from within his arms,
slip from his grasp, evade his lips by
agile contortions of infinite variety.
With him it was a victory or eternal
disgrace. He must conquer or lose his
reputation for manliness and gallantry.
And he struggled as if his very life de-
pended on the result. They writhed,
twisted, the rich blood mantling their
faces, their breath coming in great
gasps until at last, her strength ex-
hausted, her hair flying, her lips open,
she sank limp and exhausted in his
arms and lay back with closed eyes and
upturned face. Then, with fierce ra,
pacity. he bounced on her lips and
gathered the long-fought-for prize.
Scores of these kissing games were
in fashion. The young people "thread
ed the needle" they made "sugal
bowls" with certain numberof lump'
of sugar (kisses) in them; they ex
hausted invention in the variety o
forms in which OSCILLATION was practiced
Dances there were none. Now an(
, then, in the winter, there would be ,
sleighing party to a neighboring vii
, lage, and generally singing-sohool
1t was held in the gallery of the church
and took the pupils from the naming o
, the various notes through to the acqui
sition of ..Balerma, "Ortonville' ant
+ "Old Hundred" We know of no in
stance in which a Patti, Brignoli, or
q Carl Formes was developed in that re
. mote and humble locality.
u One of the things most strenuousl,
frowned on by the elders in the case O
children was what was terme'
"snoopin'," and which, on account O
a its forbidden nature, was thing mos
! delighted in by the younger ones, NOR
. especially when the old folks had gon
= to town or on visit, and left them i
a sole possession of the house.
Almost the last words of the mothe
~ when she set out on such journe
: were:
q Now, children, mind what tel
q you; don't you go snoopin' around, bu
q play good right here in the room, or g
: down to the crick, but don't git we,
a and be good children.
What more direct inducement coul
i be given to curious child to "snoop
. than this injunction to refrain from it
Had Eve never been told that Their
.s was wonderful secret In the forbi6
q den fruit, and that she must not o
h any account, taste it, the chances ar
v that the human race would have bee
d spared the primeval curse, and Ev
herself would yet be visited, each yea
q by the omnipresent census-taker.
No sooner had the wagon with ii
,e heads of the family disappeared aroun
a turn in the road, or into a hollow
than '.snoopin'" commenced in earl
II est There was to the child-mind {
IL much that was wonderful, mysteriou
a unknown about even the smallest
the houses. There were dusty an
II strengthening trunks in the lit
n space beneath the roof. In the dal
IL recesses of the cellar there might
hidden who knows what curious thing
"a And there was the small drawer in Il
bureau which the father never above
g. any one to open save himself, ar
which the children were solemn
At warned never to NEEDLE with. WI
knows but that it had stores of GO
ID and diamonds and precious thing
Ie How often has my .'snoopin' in Il
"a black, unexplored corners of the cell
revealed pan of delicious cookies
N deity hidden on some obscure shel
How often have rats been held up
"a detestation and objugation when 1t W
found that some Of the cookies" we
missing and the cream In the nilk-pa
to disturbed by some unknown agency!
Chicago Times.
Oh "A party of brigands were surpris
near Florence, the other day, and t
chief. upon being struck by two b,
m lets. thought himself wounded nj